Upon Blake Griffin's arrival in Los Angeles, pressure has been placed upon him to seemingly single-handedly turn around a lowly franchise in the Clippers into an immediate playoff contender this season. However, Blake shys away from that role, as he just wants to please his teammates, and work as hard as he can. He believes that the uplifting of the Clippers will be a team effort, not a single player's.

I don't have to be a savior. I don't have to be something I'm not. There are so many guys that can help me. - LA Times

On his future, Coach Dunleavy realized early that he's going to need a lot of room to run and learn the game in order to become the player that he can be. He knows that the time is now to turn the team around, which needs to mirror what he did in Oklahoma, which was turn a 16-15, a .500 program, into an elite eight team, nearly doubling the teams win total from the year before.That's definitely the goal. The goal is to come in here and try. We don't want to be complacent with where we're at.

He has been on record stating that he hopes for the Clippers to make the playoffs, and that he hopes for his name to be considered in the rookie of the year.Dunleavy has also spoken on Blake's future improvement: He'll have a big leash," Dunleavy said. "Let him run. If he gets tired, we'll pull him back in.

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I feel like he's a cross between Charles Barkley and Tim Duncan. He's bigger than Barkley, but he has the quick first step like Barkley, the explosion like Barkley, the big hands like Barkley. He's got the size, the demeanor of a Tim Duncan, the work ethic Even though Blake is a tad smaller than most Power Forwards in this league, everyone that has met him, and seen him play, always say that there's something special about him, that he can overcome his doubts that are placed upon him and become a superstar, something the Clips desperately need in order to bring their franchise to prominence after decades upon decades of mockery and failure.

People hope that he can bring about an end to the constant sour mood that seems to fill the Clippers locker room, as the taste of defeat and embarassment is too familiar in the mouths and hearts of the Clippers.

Blake has been in the gym working out every day, at around 10 am each morning, saying that "it's a business" and "this is my job now".

He's been doing his rookie duties, which Eric Gordon says consists of daily deliveries of Starbucks and donuts, Gatorade and Towels, rebounding for guys that are working on their jumpers [Mike Taylor], and doing whatever the veterans tell him to. He's the new Rook in town.

- In a purely economic move, and thinking ahead for the future, the Los Angeles Clippers traded Zach Randolph to the Memphis Grizzlies for Quentin Richardson.

Zach Randolph is a terrific player, but will most likely not be the greatest teammate possible for Blake Griffin, and has a chance to impede on Blake's progress as a basketball player. Quentin is most likely a short-term replacement for free agent Steve Novak, and is a big expiring contract which allows the Clippers to play their hand in the looming Free Agent period of 2010. Now, the Grizzlies have a logjam with Marc Gasol, Hasheem Thabeet, and Zach Randolph all needing decent playing time, which will probably conclude with Thabeet coming off of the bench and playing 20 minutes a game. I bet they wish they took a point guard now.

If young guys off the bench like Mike Taylor and DeAndre improve their games, and if the team STAYS HEALTHY, we can see the Clips fighting for an 8th seed come March. We'll see if Blake can turn their fortunes around.